Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Good morning, Mr. Owen. It's a pleasure to talk to you.
When the Standing Committee on Official Languages conducted a national tour, we went to British Columbia. We were quite impressed to see the number of people who were learning French or who wanted to learn it, particularly people from foreign countries. These newcomers to Canada said they wanted to learn French and English because they recognized that Canada has two official languages. It's really impressive to see that.
We noted that the biggest problem in British Columbia was the shortage of teachers. I also know that there are agreements with France. When we visited Vancouver and Nanaimo, the French communities talked a lot about the fact that there were agreements with France, with universities and even with schools. Can you tell us a little more about that?
In addition, in your view, what is the federal government's responsibility with regard to the fact that a lot of public servants will soon be retiring? With new technologies, we'll have positions that are at various locations. Let's consider Service Canada, for example. It's employees can be in Vancouver or Quebec City, in New Brunswick or elsewhere, in Alberta.
What should the Government of Canada do to promote the two official languages to our young people so that they learn them?